#7 Kathrine Switzer and the marathon, 1967
Our very own Switzer … well, that’s stretching the truth: Switzer is an American who lives in Wellington for six months of the year. She struck a famous blow for women’s rights by becoming the first registered woman runner to compete in the Boston Marathon.
Women weren’t allowed to do really strenuous things back then, apart from looking after the brats all day. Women certainly weren’t allowed to go marathon running in the 1960s, which is where Switzer stepped in by secretly entering the 1967 Boston race.
